05 November 2018

New Portrait - Beauty and the Beast

First let me do my pitch...I'm always looking
for portrait commissions. It's what I do. Please contact me if you are interested in commissioning a
painting or drawing. I work with clients near and far. View
examples of my work at my website or on my Instagram feed.

On to the post-

Beauty and Beast, oil on linen, 24x18"

This is a labor of love, a portrait of my daughter and her cat. I aimed to create an intimate feeling by filling the picture plane with the figures, making them feel close, and through the direct eye contact of the viewer and both subjects.

I relied on contrasts to add interest and encourage the viewer to linger and take another look. Examples of
contrast are the textures of the smooth sheet vs. rough carpet, the
warm/cool color pairs in the carpet vs. sofa, in her warm hair vs. cool
highlights, in the warm setting vs. cool figures and in warm shadows vs
cool lit areas. I also tried to create a little mystery by losing edges
between the forms of the 2 focal figures.

I'm including a progression to show the painting stages. Please click on the label "progression" at right to learn more about my process from previous posts.

And finally, here it is framed. The right frame always kicks it up a notch. What do you think?